State Health Division officials say they plan on meeting Nevada's April 1 deadline to adopt medical marijuana regulations, but it could take months before the state begins accepting applications from providers and growers.

Officials say regulations must be approved before the agency can accept applications. Marie Williams said that the State Health Division has submitted the final draft regulations. "We submitted (them) to the Legislative Counsel Bureau on January 13. They have 30 days to rewrite them into the legal language, and then they come back to us, then they go to the State Board of Health for approval and adoption."

The department is also developing an operational program to oversee the medical marijuana dispensaries. Their next budget meeting is set for February 6.